2014 Land Cruiser 200 Series - Executor

What rear bumper/tire carrier?

Sorry for the late reply, it’s a Trail Tailor piece. I’m very happy with it but the tire blocked the rear view camera so @Mitch and I (ok, he) relocated it to the interior, just below the third brake light. It’s a bit of a hack job on the OEM housing but it works pretty well. He kept filing it down to get the angle just right for a good view.

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I swapped out my full panel cargo barrier for a custom half panel. This keeps the passenger side open to the rest of the vehicle and facilitates being able to sleep inside with the second row folded, for times when it’s just me. My Thermarest 4” pad fits perfectly.

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Nice. The ability to “stealth camp” is a requirement for me. Nice to have that option!
 
There’s a fill technical write up of the install on Mud at https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/2014-lc200-build-executor-and-adventures.1052059/post-12247013

I removed my factory roof rails and installed Eezi-Awn K9 rails today. I stopped short of putting the feet and rack on in order to wait until I can get the roof washed and waxed. It was tough to stop and not install the feet and rack but this is better long term. Here’s a few photos of the removal and install, hopefully I’ll get the rack installed tomorrow.

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After a wash, buff, and wax we finished up the roof rack install. It wasn’t difficult but there were lots and lots of Allen bolts. At times it felt like putting together IKEA furniture.

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I went for a quick test drive to check wind noise and it’s almost unnoticeable below about 60 mph. At 65-70 mph there is a low rushing sound that’s easily blocked with a little music. Overall I’m very pleased with the install and the rack.
 
I swapped my rear springs for some rated 660-1100# over stock from Trail Tailor. These should give me the support I need when fully loaded but not be too firm when empty.

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Nice. Never heard of Trail Tailor, custom springs?

As others said, he’s an LC guy fairly exclusively. He did my rear bumper as well. He’s done several bumper designs that were eventually bought by larger companies after an initial run advertised on Mud. He mostly does it for fun as I don’t think he needs the work to survive. His shop is in Redding and although it survived the fires, the area isn’t the same and I’ve heard he looking to move.
 
Full stage 4 skid plates installed, BudBuilt 3/16” stainless. These things are super beefy, 218 pounds. I had good intentions but didn’t have nearly the shop and equipment to do this install. Ultimately, there were complications due to no instructions being included, or available. They were friendly and helpful enough on the phone but a basic diagram, at least, would have been nice. Instead it was a puzzle with 50# pieces.

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Wow, it’s been almost two years since I’ve updated this thread. I had no complaints about the roof rack itself, it always performed well, but it was a major PITA to take my Maggiolina RTT on and off. I also had an Alu-Cab 270° awning attached to the rack, but the mixing of brands ended up with a pieced together system that wasn’t perfect, and didn't allow for relative ease of unbolting everything for storage after a trip. As a result, I tended to leave it all on driving around “OLAF”.

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We like the Maggie a lot but my shipfitter‘s disease was acting up. I bought a barely used second hand Alu-Cab Gen 3 from Nena Barlow. Before driving out to pick it up I ordered roof bars from Paul at Equipt1. I was able to use three of the five sets of feet from the rack to mount the roof bars and level them prior to going to Sedona to pick up the tent. My plan was to get there before they closed, and with their assistance lift the RTT into place and secure it. I brought various sockets, wrenches and extensions, after studying the install instructions and videos online.

When I got there, Nena and a couple staff helped me out the RTT on the bars, it fit perfectly. Then they left me to attach it on my own, which was fine, although the sun was dropping. About 45 minutes later, it was attached. I thanked Nena and drove back to SoCal. It was a long day.

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The great thing about the Alu-Cab RTT is it acts as it’s own rack for Alu-Cab accessories. I ordered a brand specific mount for the 270° awning, and a mount and Alu-Cab shower tent for the driver side. It’s a super easy set up, works together perfectly, and can be removed as a single until with relative ease, probably 20-30 minutes once I get a lifting system installed in the garage.

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Then the bad news struck. One of my BP-51 shocks was broken, leaking badly, and making a helluva racket.

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I innocently looked into replacement front coilovers and ran into a worldwide back order. After inquiring at Cruiser Outfitters, OK4wd, and Slee, I called ARB USA directly to ask about their back order directly. They have a shipment “in transit” but no definitive arrival date. There are more back orders than items in that shipment so they will still be on back order after it arrives and is parsed out to their dealer network. They have no timeline for another shipment, other than months, several months. Slee looked into a set of OME Sport shocks just to get me by until my back order came up but they were even further behind!

But in my discussion with one supplier, they mentioned these don’t even ship as a full system, they get different parts at different times and have to piece together the kits themselves. They said many people have been calling around trying to find pieces and parts to build their own full suspension system with the parts dealers have that don't make a full kit. So I started searching the part number for my broken shock and found one (new) on eBay, listed as “last one”. They don’t know how right that was. I clicked buy now and just got a shipping notice, it’ll be here Friday!

We’re in the middle of a garage/house build so we haven’t even slept in the Alu-Cab yet. And with the broken shock we weren’t sure when we would. I‘ll have the shock installed next week and will be putting our house on the market in about a week as well so we can finish the build and get moved and get back out camping.
 
Its crazy on the back orders for just about anything. There are three container ships sitting anchored in Holmes Harbor between Whidbey and Camano Island Washington. Not a big deal to most as LBC has around 40, LA and Port of Vancouver BC have a bunch. But it is a big deal as its extremely rare for one to be anchored there let alone 3. Ports all backed up, this is going to take years to smooth out.
 
Its crazy on the back orders for just about anything. There are three container ships sitting anchored in Holmes Harbor between Whidbey and Camano Island Washington. Not a big deal to most as LBC has around 40, LA and Port of Vancouver BC have a bunch. But it is a big deal as its extremely rare for one to be anchored there let alone 3. Ports all backed up, this is going to take years to smooth out.

Yeah, it's crazy. Every company I talk to is feeling the crunch.

@Doug your Cruiser and your new digs look AMAZING!

:popcorn
 
Wow, it’s been almost two years since I’ve updated this thread. I had no complaints about the roof rack itself, it always performed well, but it was a major PITA to take my Maggiolina RTT on and off. I also had an Alu-Cab 270° awning attached to the rack, but the mixing of brands ended up with a pieced together system that wasn’t perfect, and didn't allow for relative ease of unbolting everything for storage after a trip. As a result, I tended to leave it all on driving around “OLAF”.

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We like the Maggie a lot but my shipfitter‘s disease was acting up. I bought a barely used second hand Alu-Cab Gen 3 from Nena Barlow. Before driving out to pick it up I ordered roof bars from Paul at Equipt1. I was able to use three of the five sets of feet from the rack to mount the roof bars and level them prior to going to Sedona to pick up the tent. My plan was to get there before they closed, and with their assistance lift the RTT into place and secure it. I brought various sockets, wrenches and extensions, after studying the install instructions and videos online.

When I got there, Nena and a couple staff helped me out the RTT on the bars, it fit perfectly. Then they left me to attach it on my own, which was fine, although the sun was dropping. About 45 minutes later, it was attached. I thanked Nena and drove back to SoCal. It was a long day.

View attachment 56507

The great thing about the Alu-Cab RTT is it acts as it’s own rack for Alu-Cab accessories. I ordered a brand specific mount for the 270° awning, and a mount and Alu-Cab shower tent for the driver side. It’s a super easy set up, works together perfectly, and can be removed as a single until with relative ease, probably 20-30 minutes once I get a lifting system installed in the garage.

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Full disclosure, in this time I have also acquired a 2014 LC and am copying everything I can. :D
 
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